State-Level Wins We’re Celebrating From the 2025 State Legislative Sessions

Over the past 12 years, gun safety advocates, including volunteers from Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, have advocated tirelessly for passage of this legislation. Passing a law prohibiting assault weapons in Rhode Island is a life-saving step forward made possible by over a decade of organizing, unwavering advocacy, and commitment to public safety. This is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when we come together and focus on what really matters: saving lives. Thank you to all the volunteers, gun violence survivors, and lawmakers who made this law become a reality.

The Colorado law is an innovative policy that demonstrates how states can follow several different strategies to keep assault weapons out of dangerous hands. Colorado’s law is unique, establishing a permit-to-purchase system to ensure prospective purchasers undergo a thorough background check and obtain specialized safety training. No other state has defined military-style firearms in this way, and no other state has a permit system exclusively for acquiring the most dangerous firearms on the market.

Introduced by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, AB 1127 would prohibit gun dealers from selling firearms that can be easily converted into automatic weapons through the use of so-called Glock switches, which enable pistols to fire at a rate of 1,200 rounds per minute.

The legislation would ban the sale and possession of rapid fire devices like bump stocks and Glock switches, and empower local governments to ban guns in certain municipal buildings. As of this writing, bill is now awaiting Governor Tina Kotek’s signature.

During the 2025 state legislative session, both Alabama and Tennessee banned Glock switches—deadly devices that convert handguns into machine guns. Machine gun conversion devices, including “Glock switches,” are aftermarket tools that allow users to convert semi-automatic firearms into illegal fully automatic machine guns. More than half the states in the country now ban Glock switches. These laws are evidence of a growing bipartisan movement supported by law enforcement nationwide. 

The Illinois legislature passed House Bill 1710, the Homicide Data Transparency Act, which would require all law enforcement agencies in Illinois to periodically publish data about nonfatal shootings and homicides and their subsequent investigations. This bill honors gun violence survivors and families impacted by gun violence by addressing cold case clearance rates.

Governor Kathy Hochul’s office announced that “the New York State Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) is now permanently codified in state law through the FY26 Enacted Budget.” A strong OGVP will help ensure that New York’s gun violence prevention efforts are coordinated, centralized, and effective.

Under previous Washington State law, all firearm sales are subject to background checks conducted through the Washington State Patrol. This new law, HB 1163, adds a permit to purchase system that builds upon that existing infrastructure. The legislation adds new requirements, including submission of a written application and fingerprinting by the local law enforcement in the applicant’s city of residence.

Community Violence Intervention (CVI) is a proven public safety strategy rooted in prevention, trust, and healing. These programs work by identifying and engaging the small group of individuals most at risk of experiencing or causing harm, using evidence-informed approaches like street outreach and hospital-based intervention. CVI organizations rely on deep community ties and earned trust to intervene effectively, particularly in neighborhoods most affected by systemic disinvestment, discrimination, and high rates of gun violence. Operating on the frontlines in the cities hit hardest, CVI programs apply localized, community-driven strategies that reduce violence and promote long-term safety and healing—and it works. Major cities across the country have seen historical decreases in overall violent crimes and homicides in recent years, in no small part due to CVI programs, with 2023 marking the largest one-year decline in homicides in 50 years. In fact, homicides continue to decline nationwide. 

The state budget allocated $300,000 for firearm suicide prevention through secure storage programs with the Montana Veterans Affairs Division. With one of the country’s highest rates of gun suicide, this new funding will be vital to spread awareness and curb Montana’s gun violence crisis. Montana has one of the highest rates of gun deaths and gun suicide rates in the country. This new funding is a meaningful step toward addressing that crisis.

The Gun Violence Research Center carries out critical research that informs gun violence prevention work both in New Jersey and across the country. At a time when gun violence prevention research is being defunded by the Trump administration, it is more important than ever that states like New Jersey invest in the research and programs that uplift innovative gun violence prevention strategies. New Jersey lawmakers made the right choice and put the safety and well-being of our communities first by funding this life-saving program.

Everytown guided Hawai‘i in upgrading its decades-old secure storage law, enhancing it from a “penalties after access” law to the most protective and comprehensive type of secure storage law known as a “locking law,” which requires gun owners to store firearms securely whenever they’re not in use. The new law also adds a requirement for gun dealers to distribute information about the secure storage law to all gun purchasers. 

Alabama, which in 2015 enacted prohibitors for domestic abusers under restraining orders or convicted of misdemeanor offenses, took critical steps forward by closing the boyfriend loophole for both convicted and restrained dating partners. Additionally, Alabama had previously prohibited gun possession by only some felons. This session, it extended its prohibition so it now applies to all felons.

If HB 2470 and HB 4201 had passed, Texas would have become the first state in the country to legally allow teenagers to carry handguns into their own schools. 

During this session, in a win for public safety, Governor Katie Hobbs also vetoed dangerous legislation aimed at shielding the gun industry from local regulations and accountability.

Legislation that failed to pass included bills that would have expanded the state’s Shoot First law and would have forced guns into places of worship and public transit. Lawmakers also came dangerously close to passing House Bill 1175, which would have revived Missouri’s previous “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” which was struck down as unconstitutional in 2023. The policy would have prohibited state or local employees from enforcing certain federal firearms laws and would have barred law enforcement from hiring agents who have previously enforced certain federal gun laws.